Obsession

I 'found' music in my early teens following a taunt from a young
lass that I knew nothing about music. She was right, but it touched
a nerve already laden with guilt from my father's anguish that his
son was apparently music-less. Looking back, that 'taunt' was like a
time bomb. In a matter of weeks my parents were both amazed yet
concerned that I was so suddenly 'glued' to the keyboard.

My father's habit of evening practice vanished overnight as his son's
obssession changed everything. I remain amazed that they adapted
to it so readily. My feeling is that such a thunderbolt in my own
family's upbringing would have brought a decisive measure of control
into play!

I cannot now recall my true feelings at that time, other than the
desperate attempt by a young looney to prove himself a budding
musician to a girl with no interest in me, or music. Such are the
quirks of youth that can herald sudden fancies, and occasionally
sow the seeds of a lifetime's obssession. Joyce Turnbull never knew
her part in my career, and my parents never knew the real truth of
their son's sudden obssession.